Twitter talks up TV credentials

MIPCOM: Broadcasters that integrate official show hashtags into primetime programmes can lift their ratings by almost 30%, Twitter’s global television team has claimed here in Cannes.

Twitter TV creative lead Fred Graver and co showed delegates this afternoon how the social media platform can drive TV audience engagement, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the firm’s work with networks and shows.

Anjali Midha, the company’s global media and agency research director, encouraged more broadcasters to use official show hashtags during live broadcasts, adding that TV ratings could surge by 29% during premieres of certain episodes.

“Looking in the US primetime, we realised that three quarters of primetime programming now includes either a hashtag, an app handle or some sort of tweets or voting mechanism,” said Midha, citing research carried out by US ratings partner Nielsen.

“Even as a researcher I don’t think I would have put my money on it being that high.”

The team also revealed 66% of reality TV viewers prefer to see tweets from official show accounts while live Tweets could also lift the number of conversations about programming on Twitter by 64%.

“During a show, people love talking about it on Twitter,” she added. “When you get involved with your show account there is a modest increase for another 7% for audiences.

“However, when your cast gets involved in Twitter, there’s a huge increase – almost four times higher, a 64% lift in terms of total conversation volume capture for that particular programme.”